Longmont police raid home looking for meth, coke, guns

Man arrested on warrant for drug distribution

The Longmont SWAT team gathers in the front yard of the home at 330 Collyer St. after serving a search warrant Friday morning Oct. 05, 2012. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
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Lewis Geyer
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LONGMONT -- Longmont police served a search warrant on a home at 330 Collyer St. at 9:20 a.m. Friday to look for methamphetamine, cocaine and guns, according to Longmont police Cmdr. Jeff Satur.

Officers arrested resident Merce Gonzales, 49, on a warrant for drug distribution, drug possession, and drug sales within 1,000 feet of a school. Homeowner Ralph Nunez, 72, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession, marijuana possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia. A third man, Matthew Starin, 20, was arrested on a warrant for a pawn broker violation.Satur said the warrant is the second time Gonzales' home has been raided by SWAT officers. The house was among those searched last year during a larger investigation in a methamphetamine and cocaine distribution ring called Operation Bad Cowboy.

Gonzales
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In that case, Gonzales was arrested and pleaded guilty to a class-5 felony drug distribution charge in September 2011. Two Class 3 felony drug-distribution charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal in his case. Gonzales was sentenced to 33 days in jail, but given credit for time served, and was put on a two-year probation.

Longmont's Special Enforcement Unit began investigating drug activities at the home based on "intelligence" provided to detectives, and officers have been stopping cars leaving the home to gather more information.

Satur said guns were removed from Gonzales' home during the 2011 arrest.

Sgt. Sean Harper said the home has been a problem for the neighborhood. Satur said it seems to be a "flop house."

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"We took seven people out of the home, and it is not a very big house," he said. "It is kind of a bungalow style."

Detective Steve Schulz said police found small amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as drug paraphernalia.

The four people who were in the home who were not arrested were released, according to Satur.

Starin
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Police worked with school officials at nearby St. John the Baptist Catholic School in advance of the raid. School officials placed the school on "lockout" before the raid. That means classes were held as scheduled from 9 until 10:15 a.m., but students and teachers were not allowed to move between the elementary and middle school buildings and the school's perimeter was secured.

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